Gary Pert’s departure from Melbourne was not assured when he uttered the fateful words that Melbourne had the greatest culture he had seen in football, but it certainly created an impression that the leadership was out of touch, and change was needed.

As the words fell confidently from Pert’s lips in that October 2023 radio interview, which was intended to calm nerves about the Demons but managed to do the complete opposite, doubts were sown about the judgment of the club’s leaders.

Melbourne CEO Gary Pert.Credit: AFL Photos

All evidence at the time, from the freefall out of finals after the 2021 flag to the well publicised off-field difficulties of Clayton Oliver and the repeated criticisms and revelations from former chairman Glen Bartlett in litigation, pointed to a club that was at best fractured and at worst dysfunctional.

What it did not project was a robust and strong culture. That the CEO would insist everything was OK was to be expected, that he should so hyperbolically........

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